Cabinet has approved the publication of the Draft Legal Sector Code (Draft LSC) for public comment, as members of the legal profession do not have a sector code to guide them in addressing the imbalances and inequalities in the profession.
“The objectives of these codes are to facilitate the transformation of the legal sector to achieve representation as per the country’s demographics,” said the Cabinet statement released on Monday, following last week’s meeting.
The code will also ensure the development of a body that will produce well-trained and competent providers of legal services.
The development of the Draft LSC was overseen by the Legal Practice Council, a statutory body established in terms of Section 4 of the Legal Practice Act, 2014 (Act 28 of 2014) and guided by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (B-BBEE), 2013 (Act 46 of 2013).
The B-BBEE Act of 2013 provides for the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition to issue codes of good practice on black economic empowerment in the specific sectors.
The Draft LSC will be published in the Government Gazette for 60 days to allow for public comments.
Biannual performance progress reports
Cabinet also approved the biannual performance progress reports for the period covering October 2021 to March 2022.
The reports form part of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2019-2024.
The MTSF 2019-2024 is the implementation plan and monitoring framework for achieving the National Development Plan: Vision 2030 priorities for the sixth administration of government.
The reports focused on the seven priorities of government, namely:
Economic transformation and job creation;
Education, skills and health;
Consolidating the social wage through reliable and quality basic services;
Spatial integration, human settlements and local government;
Social cohesion and safe communities;
A capable, ethical and developmental state; and
A better Africa and world, and related interventions of the sixth administration.
“Cabinet welcomed areas of progress on the determined targets for the period under review. Cabinet also noted areas that required interventions to address delays, which were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ministers will hold media briefings in the coming weeks to unpack their respective reports and elaborate on areas where performance needs to be strengthened,” Cabinet said.